Restless Leg Syndrome Treatments and Causes

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Restless leg syndrome is a syndrome that causes the legs to twitch or jerk. The twitching or jerking of the legs can interfere with body movements and cause restless sleep. Restless leg syndrome can also cause the legs to itch, go numb or have burning sensations. This syndrome is common in people who smoke or drink coffee a lot.

Causes

There are many things that can contribute to restless leg syndrome. The main ones are: food allergies, stress, anxiety, aging, caffeine, magnesium or folic acid deficiency. Magnesium is one of the most important nutrients for preventing twitching or jerking of muscles because it causes relaxation of muscle fibers. Too much calcium can also cause muscles to twitch because calcium is used by cells to contract muscle fiber. The important message here is to have a balance of calcium and magnesium. Magnesium deficiency is more common than calcium deficiency; therefore, if you experienced twitchy muscle, you probably are deficient in magnesium. Magnesium deficiency can occur when people eat too much junk food, have to much stress or drink to much caffeinated beverages for long periods of time.

Natural treatments for restless leg syndrome

• B-complex: B-vitamins are important for nerve and muscle function. Make sure the vitamins are extracted from high quality sources. Nutritionists recommend taking 3 capsules daily.
• Magnesium: Helps relax muscle which can alleviate symptoms of restless leg syndrome. Nutritionists recommend taking 500-1000 mg daily. If you smoke or drink coffee daily, you may want to take the higher recommendation. If you have kidney problems, you may want to consult with your physician before taking high doses of magnesium.
• Reduce stress: Studies have shown that people who are under a lot of stress have significantly lowered magnesium levels. Two reasons why magnesium level decreases during stress are muscle contraction and metabolic reaction. When people are stressed, muscle contraction and metabolic reaction increase which cause their bodies to use up more magnesium.
• Organic plant-based food: Most plant-based foods have good levels of magnesium. Try to eat the organic ones because they usually contain more nutrients. Kelp, wheat bran and almonds are excellent sources of magnesium.

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